BCCI announces the return of domestic cricket for 2021-22 season, confirms schedule
The season is set to commence on September 21.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for the 2021-22 domestic season. Last season, not much cricket was played in India due to outbreak of COVID-19. However, this time around, the whole season has been announced with Senior Men’s, Women’s, U19, U23 – all players to be in action from September 2021 to April 2022.
The season is set to commence on September 21 this year with the Senior Women’s One Day League and will be followed by the Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy, which will take place from October 27, 2021. As for Senior Men, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, T20 tournament, will get underway on October 20 with the final to be played on November 12.
The coveted first-class tournament, Ranji Trophy, was cancelled last season due to complexities in maintaining the bio-bubble. However, the competition will take place this season and will be played in a three-month window from November 16, 2021 to February 19, 2022. Vijay Hazare Trophy, Men’s One-Day competition, is set to be played from February 23, 2022 to March 26, 2022 which will be the end of the season.
Total 2127 matches to be played
BCCI has also confirmed that overall 2127 matches will be played across all levels in the next domestic season which is a huge boost to the cricketers in the country. The board is also confident that all the matches can be organised safely.
“A total of 2127 domestic games will be played this season across various age groups in the men’s & women’s category.The BCCI is confident of hosting the domestic season with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount,” the board said in a statement.
Here’s the complete breakdown of the domestic schedule for 2021-22 season
Men’s
| Category | Tournament | Start Date | End Date | No. of Matches |
| Men’s Senior | Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy | 20 October, 2021 | 12 November 2021 | 149 |
| Ranji Trophy | 16 November, 2021 | 19 February, 2022 | 177 | |
| Vijay Hazare Trophy | 23 February 2022 | 26 March, 2022 | 169 | |
| Men’s U23 | CK Nayudu Trophy | 18 November 2021 | 12 February, 2022 | 160 |
| Mens State A One-Day | 23 February, 2022 | 26 March, 2022 | 160 | |
| Men’s U19 | Vinoo Mankad Trophy | 28 September, 2021 | 29 October, 2021 | 152 |
| Men’s U19 One-Day Challenger | 3 November, 2021 | 9 November, 2021 | 7 | |
| Men’s U16 | Cooch Behar Trophy | 14 November, 2021 | 7 February, 2022 | 152 |
| Vijay Merchant Trophy U16 | 1 October, 2021 | 6 December, 2021 | 102 |
Women’s
| Category | Tournament | Start Date | End Date | No. of Matches |
| Women’s Senior | One-Day League | 21 September, 2021 | 22 October, 2021 | 160 |
| One-Day Challenger Trophy | 27 October, 2021 | 31 October, 2021 | 4 | |
| T20 League | 19 March, 2022 | 11 April, 2022 | 142 | |
| Women’s U23 | T20 League | 17 January, 2022 | 7 February, 2022 | 142 |
| One-Day League | 11 February, 2022 | 15 March, 2022 | 160 | |
| Women’s U19 | One-Day League | 1 October, 2021 | 31 October, 2021 | 152 |
| T20 League | 4 November, 2021 | 27 November, 2021 | 135 | |
| One-Day Challenger Trophy | 1 December, 2021 | 5 December, 2021 | 4 |
How are the teams split in groups in One-Day and Multi-Day tournaments?
| Category | Tournament | No. of Teams | Elite A | Elite B | Elite C | Plate |
| Men’s Senior | Vijay Hazare Trophy | 38 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Ranji Trophy | 38 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| Men’s U23 | CK Nayudu Trophy | 37 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| State One-Day League | 37 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | |
| Men’s U19 | Vinoo Mankad Trophy | 36 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| Cooch Behar Trophy | 36 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | |
| Women’s Senior | One-Day League | 37 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Women’s U23 | One-Day League | 36 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| Women’s U19 | One-Day League | 36 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
How are the teams split in T20 tournaments?
| Category | Tournament | No. of Teams | Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E |
| Men’s Senior | Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | 38 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Women’s Senior | T20 league | 37 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Women’s U23 | T20 League | 36 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Women’s U19 | T20 League | 36 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
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